Adaptive hdmi formatting system for 3d video transmission

ABSTRACT

A system configured to support video formatting without a priori knowledge of video formatting requirements of a display device. The system relies on video information transmitted from the display device to a source device to facilitate determining the video formatting requirements of the display device. The system can be used within any television network, gaming network, and content sourcing network where it may be advantageous to deploy a source device that can support formatting requirements for a plurality of different display types.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/922,345, filed Jun. 20, 2013, which application is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 12/502,434, filed Jul. 14, 2009, and issuedJul. 23, 2013, as U.S. Pat. No. 8,493,434, the disclosures of which areincorporated in their entirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to formatting video according formattingrequirements of a display device, such as but not limited formatting 3Dvideo according to an optimal 3D video format associated with thedisplay device.

BACKGROUND

A High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) connection provides foruncompressed delivery of digital video content between a source deviceand a display device that conform to published specifications andstandards. The existing standards (CEA-861E) and specifications (HDMIv1.3), however, provide for a wide range of video formats, e.g.,standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) at various picturesizes and frame rates. Because there are plethora of video transmissionoptions that operate within the boundaries of the existing standards andspecifications, the display devices are not necessarily restricted orotherwise configured to operate with a specific one of the options—thereis no specific requirement for the carriage of video content between thesource device and the display device. The video formatting requirementsof the output devices, therefore, are decided by the manufacturers andtend to vary from one manufacturer to another.

For example, one manufacturer may use an over/under coding for 3D videowhere the separate left and right video images are packed into a singlevideo frame with the left frame over the right frame, but squeezed intoa single video frame. The video signals on the interface are fullycompliant in every way with the existing standard except the source anddisplay devices must somehow understand that for 3D content the first(upper) half of the video frame will be used for the “left-eye” imagewhile the second (lower) half of the video frame will be used for the“right eye” image. As long as the exchange is understood and used in thesame way by both of the source and display devices, compatibility isprovided. Other manufacturers may use a similar scheme, but choose toplace the left and right images side-by-side within a single frame.Still others alternate lines, pixels or frames between left and rightsource images. In addition to the spatial division and placement of theseparate left and right signals, other techniques can be used, includinginversion or mirroring of one signal versus the other.

Manufacturers deploying display devices are taking advantage of existingvideo formatting modes of the HDMI connection but with a private or apriori knowledge of the formatting requirements of the display device.In other words, the manufacturers are relying on the source device tohave prior knowledge of the formatting requirements of the displaydevice such that the source device can be deployed with the same designprinciples as the display device. As a result, even though a multitudeof different and incompatible choices are possible, interoperabilitybetween the source device and display device is only possible betweenproducts designed according to the same formatting principals.

In environments where source devices are commonly deployed tosubscribers or other locations where the formatting requirements of thedisplay devices is unknown or not necessarily the same for each displaydevice, there is a possibility of format incompatibility between thesource device and the display device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is pointed out with particularity in the appendedclaims. However, other features of the present invention will becomemore apparent and the present invention will be best understood byreferring to the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompany drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an adaptive HDMI formatting system for 3D videotransmission in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a formatting table in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a source device in accordance with one non-limitingaspect of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a signal stream having left and right images combinedinto single frames and separation of the combined frames into singleframes of left and right images.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an adaptive HDMI formatting system 10 for 3D videotransmission in accordance with one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The system 10 may be configured to support the transmissionof 3D video from a service provider 12 to a source device 14 located ata subscriber location. The source device 14 may be configured to formatsignals received from the service provider 12 over a network 16 tosupport output of 3D video to a display device 18 by way of HDMI ports20, 22 used to support an HDMI connection between the source and displaydevices 14, 18. While the present invention is predominately describedwith respect to relying on an HDMI connection between the source device14 and the display device 18 to facilitate formatting 3D video, thepresent invention is not intended to be so limited and fullycontemplates formatting the signals for output as 2D video and accordingto other protocols.

3D video can be formatted according to a number of 3D formatting modesdepending on a display type of the display device 18. For example, onedisplay type may rely on an over-under formatting mode where separateleft and right video images are packed into a single video frame withthe left frame over the right frame within a single video frame. Anotherdisplay type may rely on a side-by-side formatting mode where separateleft and right video images are packed into a single video frame withthe left frame being side-by-side with the right frame within a singlevideo frame. Yet another display type may rely on a checkerboardformatting mode where left and right video images are dispersedthroughout a single video frame. There are numerous display types thatmay rely on numerous formatting modes.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates supportingvirtually any display type with the source device 14 and without any apriori knowledge of the display type of the display device 18. In thismanner, the present invention contemplates deployment of the sourcedevice 14 without the source device 14 having any knowledge of thedisplay type or formatting requirements of the display device 18 beforebeing connected to the display device 18. The present inventioncontemplates accomplishing this with a means for retrieving formattingrequirements of the display device 18, such as but not limited to theuse of a formatting table 24 included within the source device 14 orincluded on a server 26 or other device in remote communication with thesource device. The formatting table 24 may be configured to associatedisplay types with any number of display devices 18 based on anidentifier associated with the display device 18 so that the formattingmode for any display type can be determined from the display identifier.

FIG. 2 illustrates the formatting table 24 in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention. The formatting table 24may include a first column 28 of display identifiers that identify anyof a possible number of display devices 18. A second column 30 may beincluded to list display types for each of the display identifiers 28and their corresponding display requirements, i.e., over-under,checkerboard, side-by-side, etc. In the event new display devices aredeployed, additional entries can be added to the table 24 to detail thedisplay types and associated formatting modes. The display types areshown with respect to various 3D formatting modes for exemplary purposesand without intending to limit the scope and contemplation of thepresent invention. Any other type of formatting requirement and otheroperation requirements not otherwise known from information passed bydisplay device 18 may be included within the table 24, includinginformation related to 2D formatting modes for display devices that arenot 3D ready.

To facilitate identifying the display identifier 28 of the displaydevice 18 to be cross-referenced with the formatting table 24, onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates the use of theHDMI connection to exchange information between the source device 14 andthe display device 18 in a manner that facilitates assessment of theformatting requirements of the display device 18. Specifically, existingHDMI protocol requires an exchange of Extend Display Identification Data(EDID) information upon establishment of the HDMI connection between thesource 14 and display 18 devices. The EDID is a standard published bythe Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) used by the displaydevice 18 to advertise its capabilities to the source device 14according to a commonly understood data format.

The EDID information may be embedded within a memory (not shown) of thedisplay device 18 at the time of manufacture to identify a manufacturername, product description or type, phosphor or filter type, timingssupported by the display, display size, luminance data, 2D formattingrequirements, and pixel mapping data (720i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, etc.).The EDID information, however, does not identify the formattingrequirements of the display device 18 with respect to 3D video and otherinformation that may be specified within the formatting table 24. Thepresent invention addresses this issue by cross-referencing one or morepieces of EDID information with the 3D video formatting requirements ofthe display type 30. This may include the source device 14 relying onthe EDID information passed from the display device 18 to uncover thecorresponding display identifier within the table 24, and from there,the 3D formatting mode required for that display type.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the formatting table 24 may rely on the vendorname and product description fields defined by the EDID protocol togenerate a display identifier 28 for each display device 18. Inparticular, an InfoFrame type 0×03 as defined by the EDID standard,which includes vendor name and product description fields, may be usedas the display identifier 28 within the formatting table 24. Thisnon-specific nomenclature for uniquely identifying the display type 30from information already included within the EDID messages can beadvantageous in that it does not require a unique identifier to bestored on the display device 18 and it allows the table to be easilyupdated to include new display types as newer display and formats becomeavailable. Reliance on a serial number or another type of individuallyspecific reference designation to be embedded within the display device18 may be more difficult to support since it would require a much largertable to list each of the unique numbers and some type of feedbacksystem to continuously associate each new serial number with a 3D formatwithin the table 24. Other display identifiers, however, can be usedwithout deviating from the scope and contemplation of the presentinvention, including storing unique display identifiers within thedisplay device 18.

FIG. 3 illustrates a configuration for the source device 14 contemplatedby one non-limiting aspect of the present invention to facilitateadaptive 3D video formatting from EDID information transmitted from thedisplay device 18 in accordance with HDMI transmission protocols. Thesource device 14 may be any device configured to receive a contentstream 48 from the service provider 12 or other content source, such asbut not limited to a satellite source, ATSC source, cable televisionsource, IPTV source, video game console, STB, BluRay player etc., forformatting prior to output to the display device 18.

The output device 14 may include a 3D content decoding element 50 torecover left and right eye video frames used to support 3D viewing.Since 3D video typically requires the display of left and right eyevideo frames at a frequency sufficient for the mind to formulate athree-dimensional representation, the left and right eye images may beoutput to the display device 18 as two separate signal streams, althoughone signal stream having combined image frames could be used. Thedisplay device 18 may include two tuners or other processors to processthe left and right signal streams for output according to the particular3D formatting mode (3D display type) employed by the display device 18.

To limit transmission costs, the left and right eye video frames may betransmitted to the source device 14 within a single video frame. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, a single signal stream 48 may be provided to thesource 14 and output as separate signal streams 54, 56 formattedaccording to the 3D requirements of the display device 18. The signalstream 48 may include a succession of combined image frames 60 in thateach frame 60 has separate left and right images. The signal streams 54,56 output to the display device 18 may include frames 62 comprised ofsingle left and right images. The 3D content decoder 50 may beconfigured to recover the left and right images for use by a 3Dpre-formatting element 66 in outputting the signal streams 54, 56 to bedisplayed by the display device 18.

The 3D mode pre-formatting element 66 may be configured to process theleft and right eye video frames output from the 3D content decodingelement 50 prior to output to the display device 18. The 3D modepre-formatting element 66 may be configured to format the 3D videoaccording to one of the 3D formatting modes noted above, i.e., theover-under formatting mode, the side-by-side formatting mode, thecheckerboard formatting mode, or other formatting mode. The 3D modepre-formatting element 66 may determine the appropriate 3D formattingmode based on the EDID information transmitted from the display device18 upon establishment of the HDMI connection.

An EDID processing and controller element 68 may be included as part ofthe pre-formatting element 66 to facilitate the related processing andlook-up within the formatting table 24. The 3D Mode pre-formattingelement 66 may act upon the command signals from the EDID processing andcontrol element 68 in order to rescale, invert, squeeze, filter orotherwise prepare the separate left and right pixels output from the 3Dcontent decoding element 50 into the format needed by the displaydevice. The HDMI output driver 20 may then be used to output the 3Dvideo to the display device 18 according to the optimal 3D video formatof the display device 18. In the event the display device 18 is not 3Dready, the pre-formatting element 66 may rely on 2D requirementsspecified by the EDID information to support output of 2D signals.

As supported above, one non-limiting aspect of the present inventionrelates to a system that dynamically modifies and reformats HDMI videooutput to support a plethora of 3D video formats by making use of alook-up-table of stored EDID information. This system can be used toprovide the best-fit 3D video format for a wide range of 3D displaytypes and configurations in an automated solution that universallyadapts the output of the source device as needed to match the displaydevice requirements. Alternately this information can be used with asimpler system to identify only those monitors that can accept a morelimited range of or single type of 3D output format, while automaticallyreformatting the 3D content into 2D for non-compatible monitors.

Currently there are private 3D video formats being used over the HDMIinterface to work with manufacturer specific 3D display technology. Forexample, some use over-under formatting, some use side-by-sideformatting, and others use checkerboard formatting to convey theseparate left and right eye images necessary for 3D video. These privateformats are not defined by current HDMI specifications. Current CEAstandards (CEA-861) do not support signaling to identify these variousproprietary formats. To solve the problem the source device needs apriori knowledge of the best mode for each possible 3D display. This canbe accomplished by creating a database of tested monitors, indexing thatdatabase with the manufacturer unique brand/model number that is alreadycarried in the EDID information and using a look up table to retrievethe best-format type when the device initializes. This system solves theinteroperability problem without the need to change any interfacestandards.

The source device 14 is generally described as being connected to thedisplay device 18, however, this is done for exemplary purposes only.The present invention fully contemplates the source device 14 being partof the display device 18 or otherwise integrated with it and/or thesource device 18 being part of a headend unit or other device of theservice provider 12.

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale, somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for the claims and/or as a representative basis forteaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the presentinvention.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe allpossible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in thespecification are words of description rather than limitation, and it isunderstood that various changes may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for dynamically formatting content foroutput by a first display device comprising: receiving a first displayidentifier associated with the first display device; and dynamicallyformatting the content in a first format based on the first displayidentifier.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step ofdelivering the content formatted in the first format to the firstdisplay device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receivingoccurs at a content source and the content source is connected to anetwork, and the step of dynamically formatting the content in a firstformat based on the first display identifier is accomplished via alookup table.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the network is connectedto a server that contains the look-up table.
 5. The method of claim 1wherein the first display identifier associated with the first displaydevice is associated with an Extended Display Identification Data(EDID).
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:receiving a second display identifier associated with a second displaydevice; and dynamically formatting the content in a second format basedon the second display identifier.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thesecond display device, the second display identifier, and the secondformat are different from the first display device, the first displayidentifier, and the first format.
 8. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising the step of delivering the content formatted in the secondformat to the second display device.
 9. The method of claim 6, whereinthe content formatted in the first format is delivered to the firstdisplay, and the content formatted in the second format is delivered tothe second display at approximately the same time.
 10. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the first format is a 3D format and the second formatis a 2D format.
 11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having aplurality of non-transitory instructions executable with a processor andsufficient to facilitate dynamically formatting content for output by afirst display device, the non-transitory instructions being sufficientfor: receiving a first model number from the first display device;determining a first display type from the first model number;dynamically formatting the content in a first format based on the firstdisplay type.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim11, further comprising non-transitory instructions sufficient fordelivering the content formatted in the first format to the firstdisplay device.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim11 wherein the content source is connected to a network, and the firstdisplay type is determined from the first model number via a lookuptable in the network.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 13, wherein the network is connected to a server that contains thelook-up table.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim11, wherein the model number is contained in an Extended DisplayIdentification Data (EDID).
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 11, further comprising non-transitory instructionssufficient for: receiving, at the content source, a second model numberfrom a second display device; determining a second display type from thesecond model number; dynamically formatting the content in a secondformat based on the second display type; wherein the second displaydevice, second model number, second display type, and second format aredifferent from the first display type, the first model number, firstdisplay type, and second format.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising non-transitoryinstructions sufficient for delivering the content formatted in thesecond format to the second display device.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the content formatted inthe first format is delivered to the first display, and the contentformatted in the second format is delivered to the second display at thesame time.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the first format is a 3D format and the second format is a 2Dformat.